Supreme Court rejects petition against IDF use of force in Gaza

The Supreme Court unanimously rejected petitions filed by extreme leftist organizations against the open-fire regulations given to IDF soldiers operating in the face of the violent riots along the Gaza border.

The justices, including Chief Justice Esther Hayut, Vice President Hanan Meltzer and Judge Neal Hendel, ruled that there is ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas.

The State offered to present to the judges ex parte the full rules of engagement and secret intelligence related to the events, but the petitioners refused to accept the state's position.

In view of the refusal, and in light of the overt material presented in the State's response to the petition, the justices decided unanimously to reject the petitions.

The judges determined that the claims are in the process of an investigation that the state is already conducting and will continue to conduct, and not in a comprehensive petition such as that submitted to the Supreme Court.

"In view of the circumstances of the violent incidents at the base of the petitions, and in the approach of the violent disturbances that involve the security barrier, we can not rule out the Respondents' claim that there is sometimes a real and immediate danger to the IDF forces and to the citizens of Israel in the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip," Justice Meltzer wrote.

"In my view, the events described are not a popular protest, nor a spontaneous protest, especially since the violations of the order of violence, the object of the petitions, created a real and imminent danger to the lives and bodily integrity of the security forces and residents of Israel. The arrangement of violence was organized, coordinated and directed by Hamas, which is a terrorist organization engaged in armed conflict with Israel.

"It can be said that Hamas sought to benefit militarily from a possible breach of the security barrier, in a way that would also have helped infiltrate terrorists into Israel. In order to promote this goal, a significant number of the participants in the violent incidents and the casualties were active in Hamas, including its military apparatuses, who were sent in order to disrupt order and security and were instructed to incite the crowd, encourage its progress to Israeli territory," Justice Meltzer added.